Devon

HMS SCOTT CYCLISTS COMPLETE CHARITY RIDE

CYCLISTS from Plymouth-based HMS Scott completed their charity 255-mile cycle ride from Devonport Naval Base to Swansea and a warm welcome by the Lord Mayor of Swansea.

The team arrived at the National Waterfront museum where Lord Mayor June Stanton met them with tea and Welsh Cakes.

The team raised £1,200 for Plymouth’s St. Luke’s Hospice, boosted by a donation from the Lord Mayor’s.

Chief Petty Officer Dave Gregory, 49, organised the cycle ride with his wife Pen Davies-Gregory who is the head of facilities and maintenance for St. Luke’s.

He was met with a surprise visit from his daughter, Katie Davies-Gregory, a first year student at Oxford Brookes and member of the University Royal Navy Unit in her in uniform.

“It was the first time me and her mother saw her in uniform,” Dave said,” we were very proud.”

Petty Officer Pete Howell said: “We want to collect money for their vital service as well as spreading recognition of what they achieve.”

The money raised will be used to improve the kitchen at the hospice which is in need of new appliances to better aide the terminally ill.

The cyclists took four days, with 22 hours on the road, through adverse weather to complete the ride which was also to commemorate the 102nd anniversary of the last entry in the diary kept by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the ship’s namesake, during his ill-fated Antarctic expedition. Many organisations contributed to the success of this event, including HMS Flying Fox and HMS Cambria Royal Naval reserve units in Bristol and Wales, The Scott Society in Cardiff, and The Bike Cellar store in Plymstock who supplied them with spares for the trip.

Donations for the event can still be made online by going to http://www.justgiving.com/Pete-Howell.